Portable merchandise display rack



IN VENT OR.

1 ATTORNEY.

Y HNTHUNH.FH5EHELL May 4, 1937. -A. H. PASCHELL' PORTABLE MERCHANDISEDISPLAY RACK Filled April 9, 1936 Pate The provid nted May 4, 1937 ATOFFICE PORTABLE MERCHANDISE DISPLAY RACK Anthon H. Paschell, Des Moines,Iowa Application April 9, 1936, Serial No. 73,419

2 Claims.

principal objects of this invention are to e a display rack formerchandise and the like that is attractive, vmobile, versatile in itsuses, and eliminates the usual accident hazards of customers trippingover merchandise.

A further object of this invention is to provide a constr display rackfor merchandise that is so noted that the merchandise to be displayed isin a stable attitude and not likely to be accidentally dislodged fromtherack.

- A still further object of this invention is to provide a display rackfor merchandise that has detachable shelving and separators in orderthat irregular items may be displayed or several different rack.

kinds of products displayed on the same A still further object of thisinvention is to provid e a display rack for merchandise or the like thathas combined with it a storage compartment for the merchandise displayedso that the regularity of the display on the face will not be broken andto get bulky merchandise off of the shelves or tables in the store orother place of busine A still further object of this invention is toprovid e a display rack for merchandise that may be easily and quicklymoved from one place to another without the necessity of removing themerch andise from the rack.

A still further object of this invention is to provid e a display rackfor merchandise that is economical, in manufacture, durable andefficient in use.

These and other objectspwill be apparent to those skilled in the art.

-My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the various parts of 1 the device, whereby the objects contemplatedare attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in myclaims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. ready Fig.

1 is a perspective view of my display rack for use and illustrating itsconstruction.

2 is an end sectional view of my device and more fully illustrates itsconstruction.

Fig.

3 is a top sectional view of a portion of ,front panel showing themethod of attaching step 4 is a side'sectional view of a portion of theshelves to the front panel for displaying merchandise such as bottledgoods in a vertical position.

. ,li a.

' 5 is a front plan view of a portion of the front panel of the rackshowing the key-hole slots therein for attaching the separators andshelving to the device.

Fig. 6 is a side sectional view of a portion of the base portion of therack illustrating the placard or price tag holder and more fullyillustrates its construction.

The principal objection to devices for displaying merchandise now on themarket is that they are not mobile without entailing the necessity ofremoving the merchandise therefrom, they do not display largemerchandise such as canned goods in an attractive manner, they have noarrangement for the accommodation of goods of various shapes and they donot allow goods to be stacked on them .in a stable manner. I haveovercome these objections by providing a display rack for merchandisethat may be moved around with case when fully loaded, is versatile inits accommodation of varied types of goods and holds the displayed goodsin an attitude of great stability.

Referring to the drawing I have used the numeral ill to designate thefront display panel of my device. This member i is held rigidly and withits face slanting upwardly and backward by the end pieces II and I2 asshown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. These end pieces II. and i2 have theirforward edges extending out in front of the front face board ii! andform, with this face member an inclined trough. The numeral it indicatesa base board horizontally secured to the lower edge of the member if),running between the, sides II and i2 and having its face extendingoutwardly and upwardly at a right angle to the inclined member 50. Thenumeral M designates the bottom portion of my display rack rigidlysecured to the end pieces H and i2 at each of its ends and having itsforward end beveled to form an angle of considerable width and thencesloping first upwardly and outwardly and then upwardly and backwardlyparallel. to the face member Ill and having its uppermost end secured tothe base board I3 along that members outside edge. I have used thenumeral I 45 to designate the top shelf of my display rack having asubstantial width and of a length equal to the length of the inclinedmember it). This shelf has its front edge secured to the inclined facemember l0 and has each of its side edges se- 6 cured to the end piecesIt and I2 at a point below their tops. Secured to the back top edge ofthe shelf l5 and extending upwardly at right angles to the face of theshelf I5, is the back board l6. By this construction it will be seenrality of separators, 20.

with reference to the drawing that by allowing the end pieces H and I2to extend above the shelf l5 together with the back board It the shelfl5 will be bounded on three of its sides by a retaining wall the shelfnot having a wall on its forwardmost edge. Cut at uniform intervals inthe inclined face member ID are the key-hole slots IT for receivingheaded screws [8 or the equivalent which may be permanently secured to adetachable step-shelf I9, or separator member 20. These step-shelves asshown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, and shown dotted in position on Fig. lof the drawing, are so constructed that they may be readily attached tothe inclined face member by introducing the enlarged head of its screws18 into the larger aperture of the keyhole slots and pushing downwardlyparallel to the face of the member ID until the body of the screw I8 isforced into the narrow channel of the key-hole slot and the enlargedhead of the screws are in contact with the back side of the face l9.These step shelves when attached to the device form narrow shelvesextending the length of the rack and having their upper surface at rightangles to the pull of gravity. The numeral 20 designates the detachableseparator unit which may be secured tothe face member Hi by the use oftheir large headed screws I8 in conjunction with the key-hole slots H asshown in Fig.

3 of the drawing. These separators, 20, are of substantially the samelength as the visible vertical height of the member Ill for the purposeof dividing the front panel into compartments or divisions fordisplaying different types of merchandise side by side. The separatorsmay have a flange 2|, on their rearward edge to insure greater stabilityon and to the member If].

I have used the numeral 22 to designate a placard or price tag holderwhich is secured to and extends the full length of the base portion I4and adjacent the base board l3. This holder, 22, is formed of a piece ofmetal or other suitable material having its longer edges bent forwardlyand then inwardly to form narrow, parallel channels into which a placardor price tag 23 may be placed, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6 of thedrawing. The numeral 24 indicates castor wheels rotatably secured to thewider side of the base portion M to facilitate the mobility of thedisplay rack.

The numeral 25 designates a stack of canned goods in position on therack and is shown by dotted lines in the drawing.

By this construction and by reference to the drawing, it will be seenthat canned or boxed goods may be stacked one on top of each other andmay have their label side out and be on an inclined plane which willmake a uniform and attractive display of the goods while at the sametime the goods are not likely to be tipped from the rack as their centerof gravity will tend to hold them tight to the inclined face member ID.The top shelf, l5, may be loaded with fruit such as oranges and thelike, or may be used for displaying other merchandise not adaptable toan inclined position. It may of course, be used also for canned andboxed merchandise. Should it be desired to display bottled merchandiseor other forms of merchandise having a flat base but not adapted tostacking, a number of the step-shelves I9 may be easily attached to theface member as the key-hole slots are cut in the face in parallel,vertical and horizontal rows. These same slots may be used for theattachment of one or a plu- These separators divide the front panel intosections so that merchandise of different types and prices may bestacked on the front and separated from each other. Price tags for eachcompartment may be slipped into the holder 22 by bending the cards withtheir ends inward and allowing the ends to spring into the channels.

My display rack may be made of any size and may be used on counters forshowing small merchandise or may be used as a floor or window displayrack. Some of the many advantages of my rack are that it is adapted tothe display of all types and shapes of merchandise, it has adequatestorage space in its rear for bulk or additional goods, and it may beeasily moved about without tearing down the display. The rack may be setup for display in another room and then wheeled into the position it isto occupy. It is easily moved about when cleaning and when rearrangingthe floor space. The device is sanitary, is convenient and is not bulkyand may be loaded or stacked in many attractive and ornamental ways toboost the sales of merchandise. As all merchandise is supported abovethe floor there is no danger of customers tripping over the same,thereby eliminating such undesirable accidents. By the forward edge ofthe bottom l4 extending upwardly and outwardly the device itself willnot be one that any person would likely stumble over. The members II),ll, 12, I3, l4, I5, and [6 may be secured together by any suitable meanssuch as nails, screws, glue, bolts and like.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of myimproved Portable merchandise display rack without departing from thereal spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to coverby my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanicalequivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a horizontal bottom portion, aone piece front portion extending upwardly and rearwardly from saidbottom portion in a straight plane; said front portion being closer to avertical plane than to a horizontal plane, a horizontal topportion'h-aving its forward marginal edge portion adjacent the upperportion of said front portion, two side portions each of one piecesecured to said bottom portion, said front portion, and said topportion; said side portions extending beyond the outside planes ofsaid-front portion and said top portion for forming retaining walls, aretaining wall extending along the rear marginal edge portion of saidtop portion, a supporting base portion at the lower marginal edgeportion of said front portion extending at a right angle to said frontportion, said front portion being provided with a plurality of key holeslots, a plurality of shelf members designed to engage the front surfaceof said front portion, and a plurality of headed screws on each of saidshelf members detachably engaging said plurality of key hole slots fordetachably holding said shelf members on said front portion.

2. In a device of the class described, a horizontal bottom portion, aone piece front portion extending upwardly and rearwardly from saidbottom portion in a straight plane; said front portion being closer to avertical plane than to a horizontal plane, a horizontal top portionhaving its forward marginal edge portion adjacent the upper portion ofsaid front portion, two side portion, said front portion having aplurality of openings, a shelf member designed to engage the frontsurface of said front portion, and a plurality of lug members on saidshelf member for detachably engaging said plurality of openings respectively for detachably holding said shelf member on said front portion.

ANTHON H. PASCHELL.

